#22: The HIstory of Love

I really loved The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  The main character in the book is Leo Gursky, who feels all alone in the world.  He does very odd things just to get noticed each day so that somebody will see him the day he dies.  At first we learn about Leo's present and some facts about his life.  We also learn that he loves to write. 

We are then introduced to a teenage girl named Alma, who was named after the girl in The History of Love novel.  Her mother begins translating this book from Spanish and Alma decides she wants to learn more about the character she was named after.  She hopes this will give her more clues about her life and what kind of man her father was.

We also learn the story of Zvi Litvinoff, who was the author of The History of Love in Spanish.  We learn that he has carried with him a deep secret and needs to finally have it known on his death bed.

It's really hard to summarize such a beautifully written book.  I love books that have several different stories inside that all come together at the end.  If I could rename this book, I would call it "The History of the History of Love".  Just because we learn so much about how the book inside this book was written.

Up Next:  Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight